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Britney Spears, Paris Hilton Most Googled

By Ed Oswald | Published December 23, 2004, 3:08 PM

Pop star Britney Spears and actress and hotel fortune heiress Paris Hilton were the two most popular queries in 2004, according to Google's Zeitgeist which was released Thursday. The term "zeitgeist" is German in origin, and means "the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era" according to Webster's Dictionary.

Google took a broad range of topics in its survey, ranging from technology to types of clothing. Some notable popular queries:

- Movie star Orlando Bloom was the most frequently queried male celebrity, with rapper Eminem in second;

- The Apple's iPod was the top electronics query;

- Microsoft's Tablet PC was the most frequently searched for computer good;

- Auction site eBay topped Wal-Mart and amazon.com as the most popular brand name;

- P2P software Kazaa came in second to "wallpaper" as the most frequently searched for tech item.

Google said that throughout the year it searches through its logs to find interesting trends in what their users are searching for. The Zeitgeist is based on "the millions of searches conducted on Google over a given period of time - weekly, monthly, and annually." The full Zeitgeist can be found on Google's Web site.

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